7 Website Mistakes Vancouver Small Businesses Should Avoid
Your website may be the first interaction a potential customer has with your business.
Before calling you, visiting your location, or requesting a quote, many customers will search for your company online.
That means even small website problems can affect the impression your business makes.
Here are seven common website mistakes Vancouver small businesses should avoid.
1. Not Clearly Showing Where You Operate
If you serve Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, or other Lower Mainland communities, your website should make that clear.
Visitors shouldn’t have to search through several pages to determine whether you serve their area.
Your location information can naturally appear on your:
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Homepage
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Contact page
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Service pages
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Footer
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About page
This also helps search engines better understand the geographic area your business serves.
2. Using a Website That Looks Outdated
Customers often judge a company by its online presence.
An outdated website can unintentionally make an established business appear less professional.
Signs of an outdated website might include:
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Old-fashioned layouts
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Poor-quality images
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Tiny text
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Difficult navigation
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Broken pages
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Designs that don’t work properly on phones
A redesign can modernize your online presence while making the website easier for customers to use.
3. Putting Every Service on One Page
Imagine a contractor offering renovations, demolition, excavation, commercial construction, and custom homes.
Putting everything on one long page makes it harder for visitors to quickly find what they need.
Individual service pages allow businesses to explain each service properly while giving potential customers a clear path through the website.
4. Ignoring Mobile Visitors
Your website needs to work properly regardless of the device someone uses.
Important information should remain easy to read and buttons should be easy to use on smaller screens.
Navigation should also remain simple.
Responsive design isn’t simply about making a desktop website smaller. The entire experience should make sense on mobile.
5. Hiding Your Contact Information
When someone is ready to contact your business, make it easy.
Consider placing your phone number or contact button prominently throughout your website.
A good contact page can also include:
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Email address
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Contact form
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Business location
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Service area
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Business hours
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Map where appropriate
Don’t make potential customers hunt for this information.
6. Forgetting About SEO
You can build an excellent website, but people still need a way to discover it.
Basic search engine optimization helps search engines understand your pages and connect them with relevant searches.
For a Vancouver business, that might involve creating useful content around specific services customers search for locally.
SEO can include:
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Keyword research
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Optimized page titles
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Service-specific pages
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Local content
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Internal linking
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Image optimization
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Technical improvements
The goal isn’t to fill pages with keywords.
The goal is to create useful pages that clearly answer what potential customers are searching for.
7. Building a Website Without a Goal
Before designing a page, ask:
What do we want the visitor to do next?
For some businesses, the goal might be requesting an estimate.
For another business, it might be scheduling an appointment.
For an eCommerce company, it could be purchasing a product.
Once the goal is clear, the website can be structured around helping visitors reach that point.
Build a Website That Supports Your Business
A professional website is more than a digital business card.
It can help your company establish credibility, appear in relevant searches, educate potential customers, and generate new business.
Webloom provides custom website design, WordPress development, eCommerce development, SEO, redesign, and website maintenance services for businesses in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.
If your business needs a new website or your current website isn’t performing the way you’d like, contact Webloom to discuss your project.
